Weaponry

The Battle of Helm’s Deep [film version]

Helm’s Deep was located in western Rohan near Isengard. It was the headquarters of the Westfold. The battle in the film went as follows:

– Saruman’s 10,000 Uruk-hai advanced into the valley.

– The Rohirrim, led by Théoden, guarded the Hornburg, while 200 Elven archers under Aragorn and Haldir lined the battlement of the Deeping Wall.

– The defenders loosed volley after volley down upon the Uruk-hai as they closed in on Helm’s Deep. This was answered by a hail of crossbow bolts from the Uruk-hai.

– Siege ladders were raised against the Deeping Wall, and Berserkers led the assault, gaining the battlements and giving the Uruk swordsmen vital time in which to swarm up behind them. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ensued.

– Saruman’s bombs, placed in a culvert at the foot of the Deeping Wall, were detonated, destroying the middle of the wall along with countless Elves and Uruk-hai.

– The Uruks sent a “tortoise” up the causeway to the Great Gates; through this was carried a battering ram, which was used to break through the gates. Théoden led the defense of the gates.

– As Uruk-hai pikesmen poured through the breach in the wall, Elven archers held in reserve fired five scores of arrows into them; led by Aragorn, they then charged into the wall of pikes.

– The Uruk-hai brought forth giant crossbows that fired grappling hooks into the Outer Court of the Hornburg; these were used to hoist giant Uruk-covered siege ladders toward the Outer Wall. As the Uruks began to overrun the Outer Wall, the defenders retreated to the Hornburg.

– As the sun began to rise, Théoden and Aragorn led the last of the Rohirrim on a charge through the inner and outer courts and down the causeway into the sea of remaining Uruk-hai.

– At the same time, Gandalf appeared on the horizon; he and Éomer immediately led a host of 2,000 Rohirrim down a steep scree slope and into the flanks of Uruk-hai.

– The Uruk-hai, left in disarray by the surprise attack, turned and fled the valley, into a huge forest of Huorns in the Deeping Coomb. None escaped alive.